Pakistan’s Ahmadi Muslims: Imran Khan Ran on Slogans for Justice, Now Is the Time to Prove It with Actions

By Qasim Rashid

July 29 20`8

On July 25, Pakistan went to the polls and
handed the most seats in parliament to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the
party of athlete-turned-politician Imran Khan. While hailed as a victory by
many, the reality is that the Khan regime foreshadows immense hardship and
violence for Pakistan’s religious minorities — particularly that of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Election Day violence and claims of voter
fraud notwithstanding, there’s an additional sinister reality that few in
Pakistan are willing to discuss. For decades, Pakistan’s Ahmadi Muslims have
suffered complete voter disenfranchisement on account of our faith — and this
Election Day was no different. This election, Khan stood silent as Ahmadi
Muslims were again disenfranchised.

Pakistan’s version of Jim Crow laws mandate
two draconian options for the nation’s some 500,000 Ahmadi Muslims. To vote,
Ahmadis must either declare themselves non-Muslim or declare Mirza Ghulam
Ahmad, the Messiah and Mahdi and founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, as
a false prophet and liar. Ahmadi Muslims reject both positions, and are thus
forced into disenfranchisement.

Khan’s record is one of capitulation to the
Taliban, acquiescence to unjust law and deflection from accountability. As
journalist Jon Boone documented, “At the peak of the Taliban’s terror campaign
in 2014 Khan was pleading for them, saying they were ‘confused.’ He thought the
Taliban should be given an office in Peshawar from where they could parlay with
the government. He bitterly opposed a military confrontation with the group,
saying it would only fuel more violence.”

“As things turned out,” Boone noted, “Khan
was wrong and the liberal fascists were right. After much foot dragging,
largely caused by Khan’s noisy opposition, the army finally assaulted North
Waziristan. The rate of Taliban violence fell precipitously.”

Khan hasn’t changed his views. In fact, he
has doubled down, with reports that in January, his party “gave a grant worth
PKR 550 million [more than $4 million] to madrasas of Sami-ul-Haq, who is also
known as the ‘Father of Taliban’. Ahead of the polls, PTI joined hands with
Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil, who is on the US terror watch list.”

Khan claims he seeks justice for all people
of Pakistan regardless of faith or creed, but his actions prove to the
contrary.

Still, if Khan is sincere, he can prove it
by returning free and fair voting rights to Pakistan’s Ahmadi Muslims — a feat
literally a pen stroke away. An executive order issued by then-President Pervez
Musharraf relegated Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to a separate voter
roll. Khan can issue another executive order and repeal this unjust law. Will
he?

Pakistan’s own Constitution and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — which Pakistan has ratified
— mandate religious freedom. Thus, Khan can prove his commitment to justice by
demanding a repeal of Pakistan’s second amendment which declares Ahmadi Muslims
as non-Muslims, the 1984 anti-Ahmadi ordinance mandating fines and arrest for
Ahmadis identifying as Muslim, and the 1986 blasphemy law that is frequently
used to target Ahmadi Muslims, Christians, Hindus and atheists.

Instead, Khan is on the record stating, “I
say with full conviction that … [Ahmadis] cannot call themselves Muslim … and
we will stand by and fully protect Pakistan’s 295-C.” Section 295-C of the
Pakistan Penal Code enforces a mandatory death sentence for the act of
“blasphemy,” which Ahmadi Muslims are apparently de facto committing due to our
belief in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as the Messiah. Khan moreover frequents “Finality
of Prophethood” conferences, which are run by religious extremists with a
history of targeting Ahmadi Muslims.

Peculiar but significant is that every
Pakistani prime minister or president, from Benazir Bhutto to Nawaz Sharif,
persecuted Ahmadi Muslims — and each ultimately succumbed to the extremism or
corruption they enabled.

If Khan intends to buck history, he must
stop acquiescing to extremism. Notwithstanding the blood on his hands for
supporting the Taliban as they killed thousands of Pakistanis — including
scores of Ahmadi Muslims — you will never hear Khan affirm his support of
Ahmadi Muslims. When asked whether he supports Ahmadi rights, he has responded
that he “supports all rights.” Khan is the Pakistani version of “all lives
matter.” Meanwhile, Ahmadi Muslims continue to suffer religious, social and
political apartheid.

On July 25, while my fellow Ahmadi Muslims
were again denied the foundational right to vote in Pakistan, I presented our
case for justice before Sam Brownback, the U.S. ambassador for religious
freedom, in Washington at the State Department’s first-ever Ministerial to
Advance Religious Freedom. With representatives of more than 80 governments
present, our case was received with a round of applause.

If Khan were present, would he have clapped
for justice for Ahmadi Muslims? As the incoming prime minister who ran on
slogans for justice, he should prove it with his actions.

Qasim Rashid is an attorney and the national spokesman for the Ahmadiyya
Muslim Community USA. He is a Truman National Security Fellow.